News & Media Releases

Key Points Coral bleaching involves the break-up of symbiosis between corals and their algal partners and has resulted in rapid and severe reductions to coral cover and recruitment on the Great Barrier Reef This break-up is currently and almost exclusively explained by damage to photosynthesis by elevated temperatures and light exposure Recent research […]

Healthy mangrove forests play a vital role to maintaining the quality of water flowing out to the Great Barrier Reef, and Traditional Owners have a strong interest in helping monitor and manage their land and sea country. A Traditional Owner ranger group based in Bundaberg near the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef are […]

Decision-makers involved in the Australian government’s National Environmental Science Program (NESP) saw the recovery of corals on the Great Barrier Reef first-hand last week courtesy of a local tourism operator. The group, which included representatives from the Australian and Queensland Governments, the agricultural industries, the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC) and senior researchers, serve […]

First published in The Cairns Post, Friday 7th June 2019 A BOLD new plan for water quality in the Russell River has been unveiled – and itʼs causing plenty of debate. At the Babinda RSL Hall on May 30, the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre hosted a meeting to discuss the Russell Catchment Sustainability Plan, […]

Key Points The Palm Island Community Ranger proposal is based on community ranger development principles proven to be very successful in high-challenge communities in Papua New Guinea’s borderlands with Australia The pilot ranger program to be launched by RRRC in partnership with the Manbarra people will train 20 rangers to deliver multiple new economic opportunities […]

Key points: A pair of Community Rangers from the Treaty Villages on Papua New Guinea’s borderlands with Australia have attended an indigenous ranger conference in Cairns The PNG rangers are making contacts and swapping knowledge with Australian indigenous Rangers including overcoming challenges for women and girls in low-development communities The rangers are employed under a […]

A finished Ranger Family Toilet Key points: The Treaty Villages are a string of small fishing villages along the south coast of Papua New Guinea less than 4km from Australian territory and suffer from severe development barriers The Building Resilience in the Treaty Villages (BRTV) Program, a joint Australian-PNG culturally-based Community Rangers […]

The Reef and Rainforest Research Centre welcomes the announcement of the new Chief Executive Officer of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). RRRC Managing Director Sheriden Morris said strong regional leadership for the Great Barrier Reef is crucial. “This is a challenging time for the Great Barrier Reef as the Reef recovers from […]

Stings from venomous box jellyfish common in tropical waters are highly painful and can be fatal. The ability to predict when higher concentrations of jellyfish – known as ‘smacks’ – appear is an attractive prospect to scientists, surf lifesavers and tourism operators alike. NESP Tropical Water Quality Hub scientists have studied where and when swimmers […]

An excellent story from Papua New Guinea’s foremost paper The Post-Courier. Detailing the Building Resilience in the Treaty Villages Program, which is administered by the RRRC. The program is achieving major positive humanitarian outcomes in the Treaty Villages on PNG’s southern border: https://postcourier.com.pg/ranger-program-builds-resilience-torres-strait-treaty-villages/

In a step forward for Great Barrier Reef water quality, scientists and Far North Queensland cane growers will come together to discuss the latest innovations in nitrogen-based fertilizer management to protect both Great Barrier Reef and the sustainability of the sugar cane industry. Excess nitrogen in water flowing out from the Queensland coast can significantly […]

Two rangers from the Building Resilience in the Treaty Villages (BRTV) program in Papua New Guinea’s southern coastal villages have travelled to Australia to share and gain knowledge at a forum for indigenous rangers. The Indigenous Rangers Forum, held in Burketown over 4-6 September, brought together representatives of 72 indigenous ranger groups from all over […]

There are significant signs of recovery for corals affected by mass coral bleaching on the GBR. A milder 2017-2018 summer aided by science, industry and government is supporting the recovery of the GBR in many locations. Reefs around the world bleached in 2016 and 2017 and whilst the northern part of the GBR experienced some […]

The Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC), a Cairns-based environmental NGO, has welcomed the announcement of $500 million for Great Barrier Reef protection from the Australian Government in the 2018 Budget. It’s now time to invest in resilience and restoration strategies for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as climate change and other health impacts continue […]

Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster spp) feed on coral polyps and have been occurring in outbreaks off the coast of north Queensland since the 1960s, with the species responsible for up to 25 per cent of live coral cover loss on the Great Barrier Reef up until mass bleaching events in 2012. The Australian government’s […]

Preparations for a world-first combination of Queensland’s best science and engineering expertise to defend parts of the Great Barrier Reef from climate change will begin this summer, thanks to $2.2 million in funding from the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy. Read more

The latest class of divers trained to control outbreaks of the coral-eating Crown of Thorns Starfish will be entering the workforce with an arsenal of specialized skills after graduating at a ceremony in Cairns today. Read more

A Cairns non-government humanitarian organisation is reaching out to the Queensland community to help supply a locally-designed ‘smart first aid kit’ to impoverished communities on Papua New Guinea’s borderlands with Australia. Read more

RRRC’s managing director Sheriden Morris has been appointed the chairperson of the board of directors for the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia, a $75 million body that will assist businesses, governments and researchers to work together to identify opportunities for business and growth in northern Australia. See the media release below for […]

Every year, major rainfalls in FNQ turn the Barron River and other major watercourses a bright shade of ochre. They pick up mud and silt on their way to the ocean. This year, scientists and farmers are keeping a closer eye on the sediment-filled waters and their effects on the Great Barrier Reef. Read more

Rangers trained under RRRC’s Treaty Village Resilience Program have rebuilt the derelict hospital in Mabuadan Village, PNG. This will give new access to healthcare for the community, particularly women. Read more…

As the first of David Attenborough’s TV program on the Great Barrier Reef aired last night, an Aboriginal art book by a Cairns artist and author, Munganbana Norman Miller, and Adelaide based RenBro Publishing, is the proud recipient of a Bronze Medal from the internationally prestigious and globally recognized Independent Publisher Book Awards – IPPY […]

The first detailed up-close bleaching surveys of reefs in the Cairns-Lizard Island area have been completed, and results show that the key tourism sites off Cairns have escaped the worst of the severe bleaching. Read more…

The northern Great Barrier Reef is experiencing one of the worst mass bleaching events on record. Here’s how researchers and managers are working to help the Reef endure and recover from bleaching and other threats. Read more…

NERP TE Hub Project 4.1 Katharina Fabricius’s paper “Changes in water clarity in response to river discharges on the Great Barrier Reef continental shelf: 2002–2013” is now available online here as open access. Highlights The 344,000 km2 Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is located on a shallow continental shelf. We show wide-spread, long-lasting losses in GBR […]

New technologies and techniques have allowed control divers to remove 400,000 Crown of Thorns Starfish from the Great Barrier Reef and protect the $7 billion tourism industry dependent on it. Read more

THE funny side of tourism will be within the scope of a new research centre dedicated to improving the industry. CQUniversity officially opened its new Centre for Tourism and Regional Opportunities at its Cairns campus. Read more

Severe drought is pushing communities to breaking point on Australi…….a’s borderlands however the tropical expertise of organisations based in Cairns are helping communities in this region develop. Read more

As the 30th Anniversary of the Australian and PNG Torres Strait Treaty is celebrated, an Australian-funded development aid program in Papua New Guinea’s south is producing real results, with compelling human stories emerging from the program. Read more

It’s going to take the reinvention of 10,000 farms to improve water quality and repair the Great Barrier Reef, and there’s new evidence that sediment from farms producing Australia’s favourite fruit—bananas—is a growing part of the problem. The bold plan to fix the reef will cost billions but is already facing funding cuts. Gregg Borschmann […]

The excruciating pain inflicted by a box jellyfish sting can really ruin a swim in the warm waters of tropical far north Queensland and it’s notoriously difficult to predict where swarms of the venomous marine organisms might suddenly appear. Read more

The original drafting of the Great Barrier Reef Aquaculture Regulations, did what they were meant to do protect the Great Barrier Reef and the biosecurity for the aquaculture industry. As the then-Director for Water Quality at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, it was my job to draft these Regulations. Read more

The original drafting of the Great Barrier Reef Aquaculture Regulations, did what they were meant to do protect the Great Barrier Reef and the biosecurity for the aquaculture industry. As the then-Director for Water Quality at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, it was my job to draft these Regulations. Read more

A federally-funded training program has helped boost youth employment in Cairns and protect the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) simultaneously, with a group of young locals receiving Certificate III’s in Tourism and Occupational Diving and also culling the coral eating Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS) at the same time. Read more

The Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC) is welcoming the announcement of $7 million to control populations of the coraleating Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS) on the Great Barrier Reef. Read more

QUEENSLAND’S cyclone-battered Great Barrier Reef is showing good signs of regrowth and new coral colonies as the Environment Minister urged tourists to put a visit to the natural wonder on a “bucket list’’. The largest post-cyclone assessment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park — a 600km-long stretch of reef — found up to a […]

The crown of thorns starfish which has devastated large areas of the Great Barrier Reef has infested areas around the Montebello Islands off the Pilbara coast. Surveys going back to the mid-1970s have shown the existence of the marine invertebrates in the reefs off the Pilbara coastline. However, the numbers being currently observed are much […]

Rising sea temperatures have been found by scientists to improve the survival rate of the coral-eating crown-of-thorn starfish in findings that are likely to stoke fears about the future of the Great Barrier Reef. Read more

WHITSUNDAY tourism operators have welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of more than $31 million over six years for research into tropical water quality through the National Environmental Science Program. Read more

Beau-Vallon — Increasing levels of human development in Seychelles coupled with rising sea temperatures have caused an outbreak of venomous starfish that feed on delicate coral reefs, and unless concerted action is taken soon, a large number of reefs within the inner granitic islands of the archipelago could be entirely lost. Read more

A new world-class research centre and observatory focusing on the Daintree Rainforest has been opened today. The Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch said the Daintree Rainforest Observatory was built with $9.7 million from the Australian Government and that it will build on the work already done by James Cook University’s (JCU) Australian Canopy Crane Research […]

More than 100,000 beautiful images of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have been released to the public. The photos include species living on the reef, 360 degree panoramas and map the reef from 32 different locations. Read more

A decision by G20 leaders to discuss climate change at their meeting in Brisbane this week is good news for the Great Barrier Reef, researchers say. The University of Queensland’s Dr Juan Ortiz, lead author on a study of the reef released today, said the research was the most detailed to date and the first […]

A LEADING scientist has backed dive operators’ tough “two spikes and you’re out” rule when dealing with crown of thorns starfish, saying it is better to be safe than sorry. The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators has introduced a new policy for its divers trying to eliminate the coral-devouring creatures from the Great Barrier […]

DIVERS trying to eliminate crown-of-thorns starfish from the Great Barrier Reef will be sacked if they get twice stung by the animals’ venomous spines. The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators has implemented the tough new “two spikes and you’re out” policy after workplace, health and safety concerns about the venomous creatures. Read more

REEF fish stocks may face less predatory pressure after scientists found a small species of shark doesn’t have to eat more to cope with the carbon dioxide levels predicted for the end of the century. Read more

Researchers are trying to solve the mystery of what caused the mass strandings and deaths of green turtles in Queensland’s far north two years ago They are tagging hundreds of turtles along the Great Barrier Reef as part of a project to try and prevent more deaths. Read more

Checking insect traps, collecting scientific data and processing international arrivals to ensure they’re not carrying pests or disease that would threaten Australia’s agricultural, is all in a day’s work for Gadu Banu. Read more

Tests have confirmed the first Australian transmission of a virulent form of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Two weeks ago a Torres Strait islander woman died in Cairns from a mutant strain that originates across the border from Papua New Guinea. Read more

SHERIDEN Morris has been at the forefront of efforts to manage human impacts on the Great Barrier Reef for nearly 30 years. When a Far Northern ­inshore reef system began to collapse, she worked with farmers on improving their practices and reducing run-off into reef catchments. Read more

The Federal Government is warning anyone involved in the illegal trade of dugong and turtle meat that they will be caught. The Government has allocated $5 million to a dugong and turtle protection plan that involves the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Customs and Border Protection, and the Australian Crime Commission. Read more

THE body heading the fight against the coral-devouring crown of thorns starfish has warned funding for the control program must continue if the battle is to be won. Divers have found starfish smaller than a 5¢ coin in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which indicates another wave of COTS is ready to invade. Read […]

The Australian Government will provide $1.85 million to a two-year pilot program promoting economic and community development and disease prevention in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province. The program is the product of a new partnership between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Cairns-based Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC). Read the full […]

DREDGING and dumping of spoil on the Great Barrier Reef faces a cap or ban after a decision hailed as a victory in the fight to protect our iconic underwater jewel. The long-awaited Senate Reef report tabled last night recommended a halt to dumping amid deep concerns about the rapidly declining health of the 2300km-long reef […]

THE battered Great Barrier Reef may yet face its most damaging issue — urban pollution from millions of people. It is forecast that urban pollution from runaway coastal population growth will explode as people move into the area, potentially doing more damage than much-maligned farming. Read more

The IMO-adopted ship routeing measure to enhance the safety and efficiency of navigation and protect the region’s sensitive marine environment will come into effect at 0000 UTC on 1st December 2014. Read more